Disc error check and Battery Warning

I am a new member, with this my first (ever) post and I have 3 problems, hoping that more that one can be posted at one time. To me, they all seem to be related.

(1) I have a new Dell Studio 1735 laptop. OS is Vista Home Premium SP1 32 bit. Hard disc 240GB on C: and 10GB on D: "recovery". Processor is 2.0 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo. I am the administrator. UAC has been disabled as I could not download certain (needed) programs until I did that. When I attempt a disc error check(CheckDisc on my old XP) and click on "Schedule a disc check" the dialogue box disappears and when I restart my computer at a later date there is no indication that a check is being performed.

(2) AlsoWhen I do a defrag, there is no progress to follow, and no way to assess the need to defrag.

(3) I have gone into the power settings and asked for a battery warning for a low battery, but nothing warns me and the computer suddenly shuts down when the battery is low. I have also clicked on the Window Sounds for a low battery but also no sound warns for a low battery. Dell tells me that the low battery visual warning is a default, but obviously not on my computer. I would appreciate any help on these 2 issues.